| Copyright (c) 2008 Paul Hata | | | | member of the General Agreement on Tariffs |
| | | | and Trade (GATT). Needless to say, as India's |
| With a GDP growth rate of 9.4% in 2006-07, | | | | economy starts to relax its laws on foreign |
| India's economy is among the fastest growing | | | | investment, many interested parties who see |
| in the world.India's GDP is over US$1 | | | | the light at the end of the tunnel began |
| trillion with a per capita income of US$977 | | | | funneling in their funds. |
| while its per capita (Purchasing Power | | | | |
| Parity) is US$2700. | | | | With China, we know that manpower is the main |
| | | | pulling point. The same goes for India. India |
| With the new open door policy, investment in | | | | is one of the countries in the world that |
| India has become a popular choice, giving | | | | provided a cost-effective labor force and an |
| China a fair fight for the share of global | | | | abundance or raw material, mostly textile |
| investments. India, however, is less | | | | related. India's textile industry is a |
| aggressive and a more conservative country | | | | whopping $36 billion dollar industry, a huge |
| compared to many other developing countries | | | | lion share for a developing country. |
| in Asia particularly China. | | | | Investment in India's textile industry is a |
| | | | sound investment deal as it contributes up to |
| Before 1991, India's government had in place | | | | be about 5% of its GDP! |
| red tapes and taxes that discouraged outside | | | | |
| interference in their economy and growth. | | | | India's labor-intensive market is |
| Fearing for the local industries, the Indian | | | | highly-trained and attracts many foreign |
| government protected its weak economy by | | | | investments. Granted, many low-income groups |
| putting in place a big tax percentage on | | | | of Indians are home-trained in it, as an |
| imported materials and discouraging attempts | | | | India investor, it is best to take note of |
| by foreign investors when they showed an | | | | this fact. Every country has its own |
| interest in dabbling in promising companies | | | | expertise and skills. India is a country with |
| in India. If they were to grow, India wanted | | | | a healthy number of people capable of ruling |
| it to be from their own effort and not from | | | | the textile industry in Asia...the only other |
| the fact that anyone helped them to achieve | | | | Asian country running alongside it in the |
| the success. Therefore, investment in India | | | | textile industry and fighting for the same |
| was difficult before 1991. | | | | slice of the market is China. |
| | | | |
| But the country is completely different today | | | | While both countries fight for the lion share |
| because it plays a big role in general | | | | of the industry, the fierce competition |
| meetings all around the world that dealt with | | | | between China and India will only benefit |
| world economy via the World Trade | | | | foreign investors in India's textile |
| Organization. India is an active and founding | | | | industry. |